


Off the Rails

by sailorsav



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, He's kinda an asshole, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Skateboarding, all the common injuries associated with skateboarding, alternative universe - skateboarding, canon typical drinking, canon typical injury, no hockey, year 1 jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22285663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailorsav/pseuds/sailorsav
Summary: Jack doesn’t skate professionally anymore. He hasn’t for years. He does still like to feel like part of the team. But when team management brings in a new skater who can’t skate in the team’s style, Jack doesn’t get it. He wants the team to succeed. How is this new kid going to do that? Eric is nervous and excited for the opportunity to skate as a flow skater with a professional skateboarding team. Except the first guy he met is a total jerk. Eric is committed to making a good impression. Is it too late to go back to Georgia?
Relationships: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann
Comments: 13
Kudos: 46
Collections: OMGCP AU Bang 2019





	1. Chapter 1

“What do you mean you recruited a freestyler to be flow?” Jack half-shouted at Hall, the team’s manager. He dropped the end of his board down and held it lightly with one hand. “He doesn’t even do any street skating in the video. Just a bunch of old school outdated tricks. It’s all flat.”

Behind his desk full of haphazardly stacked papers Hall dropped his head into his hands for a moment to let Jack continue his rant. When there was a pause for breath he interrupted, “I’ve never seen anyone do a nose 360 that long or that fast then come out of it like nothing happened. He might be limited now but he shows crazy potential.” 

“Fine.”

“And on top of that, it’s not like he’s going to be a paid member of the team. We just want him as flow right now, see how he does. He’ll live with you guys and skate with you guys, but he’s not on the team.”

“I said fine.”

“Good, because he comes in tomorrow. Shitty is picking him up from the airport in the morning.”

“Oh that’ll make a good impression.” Jack pulled his board up to his chest and went to walk out the door of the office into the park.

“Give him a chance.”

“We’ll see.”

Faber Park was full of sound; boards hitting ledges, decks grinding rails, wheels and bodies smacking the ground. A half dozen people all practicing their own tricks determined to land them no matter what it did to them. 

Jack cruised the length of the indoor park stopping in front of a small woman laying on her stomach with a camera in hand and a GoPro set up beside her. He walked off his board stepping hard with the last one to kick his board up behind him and tuck it under his arm. Jack ran his free hand through his hair then flopped to the ground. He pulled a beanie out from his back pocket and pulled it haphazardly onto his head.

“Bro you’re gonna shake the shot!”

“Sorry, Lards.” He shifted more carefully to maneuver his board under himself. 

“Nah, it’s good. Just messing with you.” Lardo switched off the cameras sitting up to face Jack. She kicked her feet out; holographic rollerblades unbuckled. “The new kid comes tomorrow.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay.”

The pair sat quietly for several minutes, the rhythmic pounding and metallic clanking of their friends around them. Lardo moved her blades in and out sending rainbow reflections across Jack’s face and against the wall. Jack caved.

“It’s just I was finally starting to feel really good about the team and they want to come in and change the whole dynamic. I don’t understand.”

“They? You mean your dad.” 

“He owns the brand but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Bullshit. It means something. I think it means a lot to you.”

Jack huffed picking at the dark gray beanie on his head. “I don’t really want to talk about that either.” 

Lardo seemed to know not to push that topic any further because she adjusted the straps on her blades and stood, offering out a hand. “Well let’s just skate then.”

“Good plan.” He reached up to her. 

He followed her lead to the short handrails and small sets of stairs. She stopped just short turning to look up at him. “Did you want to work some tricks and get it out or do you want to hold onto the gear?”

“My knees are iffy today so I think I take the gear this time. Thanks, though.” He pulled at his beanie again before taking the camera from her.

“Sure thing, dude.” Lardo clipped the GoPro onto her helmet mount, followed by a quick pat-down of her elbow and knee pads.

Jack moved his board off to the side and watched as Lardo talked out the line she had been practicing for the better part of a week. Grind the handrail, crossing over halfway down, 540 spin jumping over the mound, carve back, then up onto a ledge to grind it on one skate before dropping into the bowl for several more aerial tricks that seemed to change each time like she was still trying to figure out what she wanted. He crouched next to the mound and readied the camera to get the best shot. 

Thirty feet back Lardo paused took a breath then skated as hard and fast as she could, pushing down and up to get the best lift onto the rail. She’d practiced this enough that it looked easy. She stuck her tongue out at the camera in the air when she turned to skate backward off the mound. A few crossover steps put her at the ledge and a small pop up put her on it. She wavered a little, balanced on one foot, before popping off the end. A quick barrel roll was tacked on before she dropped into the bowl. 

Jack lost sight of her and heard her swear from where he was fifty feet away. He jogged lightly to where she was skating out of the shallow end of the bowl. “What happened?”

“I thought I would get cute with the barrel roll but it put my weight on the wrong foot so I wiped out on the drop in.” She offered up her hands that had taken some of the impact from the fall. They were red and a few spots had tiny specks of blood welling up on them.

“That was gnarly. Let’s get you cleaned up.” 

“Good plan.” 

🛹

The crew was scattered around the living room on couches and pillows. Ransom and Holster were on the floor in a heavily competitive Mario Kart battle, trying to play with the controller in one hand while fighting shoves off with the other. Lardo was tucked into the corner of the old green couch. Jack sat turned to her on one of several patches that had been put to cover and reinforce around holes that had been worn out over time. 

"How are the hands?"

"They're fine," she lifted them up to show him her bandages. 

"You bled through them."

"It's fine, really." 

"Will you at least change them before you go to sleep? For me?"

"Just for you bro," she rolled her eyes.

Shitty tumbled over the couch in a weird somersault frontflip combo that ended with his legs hooked over the back. By some miracle, he managed to only spill beer on himself. He offered the can up to Jack, who shook his head, then to Lardo who took and drained the rest of the can.

“Lards, my best bro --”

“Hey, I thought I was your best bro!” Jack interrupted with a teasing jab at Shitty’s leg.

“No fair! He told me I was his best bro earlier today when we were trying a doubles run,” Ransom laughed without turning away from the TV. 

Holster stopped and set down the controller and faced Ransom, sending Princess Peach careening off Rainbow Road. “Dude. I thought you were my best bro.”

“Holtzy of course I am,” Ransom had tossed his controller off to the side and gave Holster an affirming squeeze on his forearm. 

“ANYWAY,” Shitty wiggled on his back bumping into Lardo and Jack. “Lardo, I heard you had like, a fantastically wicked slam today.”

“It wasn’t that bad guys seriously. Barely any blood.”

“You up to try it again tomorrow?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Shitty.”

“Yes, Jack-o?”

“You have to go to the airport tomorrow.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really. The new kid is coming in.”

“THAT’S RIGHT.”

“You had no idea.”

“Nope, not a clue. Do you know when? Because ya know I kinda had plans.”

“I’ll do it,” Jack grumbled out. He wasn’t on the team so he had no obligation to practice. Shitty did and the team was going to need all the practice they could get if they were going to enter Samwell Skate Series at the end of the summer. 

“Brah, I was kidding.”

“I know, but it’s fine. I’ll go.”

“Only if you’re sure. I don’t want to, like, overstep and make you go.”

“Shitty it’s fine really.” 

“Okay, dude thanks,” Shitty nudged Jack with his elbow.

They settled back into a comfortable silence. Jack knew they liked having him around but he couldn’t always push out the thoughts that he was an outsider that didn’t belong. His dad owned the team and he wasn’t even on it. He just hung out and skated with them sometimes. He scrubbed his hands over his face sighing deeply. 

“You good?”

“I think I just need to go to sleep. The new kid gets in at something like 7 am and I still want to go for a run in the morning.”

“Fair enough my man. Sleep tight, dream of big air.”

Jack chuckled, “I’ll try, Shitty.”


	2. Chapter 2

Eric slogged off the plane to the nearest airport coffee shop. He needed caffeine desperately and he wasn’t going to allow a caffeine withdrawal to leave a bad impression on his new team, he just wasn’t. He knew they were taking a risk on him, putting him on the team and basically paying for most of his expenses. 

The barista called his name, passing him his vanilla latte. Eric glanced at his phone. 7:15 am. Shit. He was supposed to be meeting his ride in five minutes with all his stuff. The coffee burned but he didn’t have time to let it cool. He had to get to the baggage claim. He wrapped his board tightly into his side so he wouldn’t actually hit anyone and sprinted. 

At the baggage claim, it didn’t take long for him to find his bright blue suitcase. The helmet strapped on top helped it stand out too. Eric checked his phone again, 7:18 am. He made good time. He leaned his board against his bag and ran a hand through his hair. He wasn’t going to make a bad impression. He wouldn’t let that happen. He took one last go through his mental checklist and grabbed up his board by the trucks.

He didn’t see anyone with a sign or a board where people were waiting. He waited, tapping his hands nervously on the edge of his board and scanned the crowd over and over. It took a few minutes but eventually, he saw a man in a Thrasher hoodie, cargo pants, and backwards snapback holding a tiny wrinkled sign. The sign, Eric realized, was a crumpled up napkin with “BITTLE” scrawled across it in sharpie.

“It could be worse,” Eric mumbled to himself. He took a deep breath and plastered the biggest smile he could muster on his face before approaching the other man. His scowl was much more intimidating up close than it was from a distance. Was it too late for him to turn back and go home to Georgia? 

“You Bittle?”

“That’s me! You can call me Eric,” he stuck out a hand.

“Jack.”

Eric noticed Jack glance down at his board before he turned to walk away. He had to walk quickly to keep up with Jack’s long strides. This was fine, he was going to get to skate for a living, this was his dream, everything was going to be okay. Well, so long as the rest of the team wasn’t like Jack. 

They made it to the van, a massive passenger van painted to look like a broken-down house, and Jack had Eric put his things inside. Once his suitcase and board were tucked behind the passenger seat he pulled at the door to close before climbing into the front. It seemed to take forever for the door to give way, sliding across the tracks and slamming closed. Eric climbed into the front seat and waited for Jack to start the car so they could be on their way. 

"So have you been skating long?" Eric tapped his fingers on his knees hoping he didn't seem too nervous. 

"I'm not on the team, if that's what you're getting at."

"Oh no, of course not!" He pulled at the cuff of his jacket. 

The silence that settled over them was stiff and uncomfortable. Eric wasn't really fond of silence, it let the constant whispers of doubt eat away at him in the back of his mind. He could only sit for a few minutes before he caved and chattered about who knows what, Eric certainly didn’t remember after a while. It was mindless, but at least it wasn’t silence. 

He was able to keep up their one-sided conversation for the barely thirty minute drive back to the Haus. His mama had responded to his text telling him she was happy he was safe and wanted a phone call that night to know how he’d settled in. Eric hoped he would have some good news to share with her. 

“Hall wants to see you at Faber at 9, so do whatever you need I guess,” Jack grumbled pulling the van into the driveway. 

Eric could finally see why the van was painted the way it was. The house he was going to be living in looked just as run down. A couch sat on the front lawn facing the street stained and long grass was growing up around it. Someone was passed out with their legs hanging over the edge, a snapback covering their face from the sun. 

He followed Jack up the sidewalk and into the house. The inside wasn’t rundown so much as just dirty. Eric could feel an itch in his hand to drop everything and clean until he thought the house mostly sanitary. He shuddered off the urge and tried to catch back up with Jack, who was headed up the stairs two at a time with his hands in his pockets. 

“You’re in there with Lardo,” Jack pointed at a door. “We’re leaving in fifteen. Be ready.”

Eric didn’t even have a chance to say thank you before Jack disappeared into the room across the hallway. This was going to be an experience. He took a calming breath and opened the door to his new home. 

The bedroom was honestly bigger than he thought it would be. Divided neatly into two halves, one covered in posters and paintings, the other bare. The only space that seemed to bleed over were the art supplies on the adjoining desks. If Lardo was this neat all the time they were going to get along just fine. 

He hefted his suitcase onto the full-size bed so he could get out the gear he needed to go skate. While his outfit was cute for meeting new people and the team his tight fitted skinny jeans were not conducive to freestyle skating. Eric went for shorts and a tank as well as his lucky socks. He changed quickly then grabbed his board, helmet, and gear bag to head downstairs. 

Jack was already waiting for him, sitting on an old green couch. He got up without saying anything to Eric and went out towards the van. He noticed the couch on the front lawn was now empty. Eric followed after him wishing he had brought a hoodie with him. 

Jack must have noticed him shiver because he snapped, “Go get a jacket for fuck’s sake.”

Eric dropped his gear in the van and ran as fast as he could back up to his shared room to grab his favorite hoodie from his suitcase. After he pulled it on he took a deep breath. He could feel the tears welling up but he wasn’t going to let himself cry yet. Jack might be an asshole but he hadn’t even met the rest of the team. And like he was told earlier, Jack wasn’t on the team. He wiped at his eyes with the sleeves, slapped his best southern smile on, and went back down to the van where Jack was waiting. 

The drive to Faber Park was mercifully short. Jack pulled the van into a spot in front of a small storefront. Eric followed him into the store acknowledging the man behind the counter with a nod then continued through a doorway marked SKATE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Immediately Eric was surrounded by the familiar sounds of a skate park. Several people were on the far end of the park working with a large halfpipe. His heart dropped to his stomach to see the height of it. Jack pointed to a door painted with a finely detailed mural. He knocked and walked back towards the shopfront without so much as a goodbye to Eric. 

Hall yelled for him to come in and sit down. Eric was a little surprised when the office actually looked mostly like an office. Several framed posters lined the walls, each blown up magazine covers with different skaters. The mountains of papers on Hall’s desk seemed to be stacked in a system but in the back of Eric’s mind, he wondered if Hall knew the system he was attempting to use or not. 

“How was your flight?”

Eric was even more surprised to see that Hall seemed to care. His perception of what this team was going to be like may have been off. “It went off without a hitch. Thank you for asking.” 

“Absolutely. I hope we’ve made a good impression so far.”

Eric didn’t want to lie to his face but he didn’t want to seem ungrateful either so he smiled and laughed a little hoping Hall would move on.

“So uh, let’s talk responsibilities and your terms for being with us. We’ll cover your housing and cost of equipment. In return, you’ll travel and skate with the team, although you are not being paid to be on the team. You’ll also be required to work a minimum of fifteen hours in the shop, for which you will be paid.”

Eric nodded. He knew all this going in but he appreciated it being gone through one more time. 

It took no time for the rest of the paperwork to be filled out, various waivers and nondisclosure agreements. Hall did understand the system even if it seemed a little much to Eric. When everything was filled out he was given his schedule to work in the shop for the next week and sent off to meet the rest of the team. Hall told him it was a closed skate today so everyone in the park was on the team. 

“Thank you for your time today, sir. I really appreciate this chance y’all are taking on me,” Eric smiled before he closed the office door. 

The people that were on the far end of the park had relocated themselves closer to the office. There were still a couple people skating but most of them were yelling at the two giant men attempting to do a doubles run on a quarterpipe nearby. It looked like the one on the bike was trying to go up and over the one on the skateboard. Eric hoped they wouldn’t expect that from him. He really didn’t want to die and that’s definitely what he thought would happen if he tried that. 

When the pair finally landed their trick after several failed attempts everyone tapped their boards on the ground. Eric had made his way to standing directly behind the rest of the group and tapped his board too which caused several of them to turn around and notice him. Jack scowled at him from his seat on a board. 

“YO BRAH! WELCOME!” a shirtless man yelled towards him trying to get up off the ground. “I’m Shitty. Can I give you a hug, man? You look really huggable.”

It took Eric a moment to process but he managed, “Uh sure.” He was swallowed into a tight bear hug. Everyone but Jack came to introduce themselves, each of them went for a hug too. The two doing the doubles runs Eric learned were, Ransom and Holster, and were even bigger than he thought. 

“Dude you are like so small,” Holster chuckled.

“The smallest. But I’m here for it. I bet you’re wicked quick,” Ransom said more to Holster than Eric. 

“I brought some cookies I made for y’all if you’d like to try them.” Eric reached into his bag for the tupperware container he made sure to put in his gear bag. 

“Oh hell yeah!” Lardo grabbed the container and took off with it on her skates. Ransom, Holster, and Shitty all chased her but couldn’t keep up on foot. She made a big lazy loop into a sliding stop back in front of Eric. She had a cookie in one hand and passed the rest off to the boys with a grin. 

They devoured the cookies and passed the container back to Eric. Shitty had sat back down on the ground next to Jack, his legs in front of him, board sitting on top, “Let’s see what you’ve got in that tiny little baker body.”

“Like an audition. But also don’t worry, you're not going to get kicked off of anything,” Lardo laughed. She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before joining the rest of the team on the ground.

“Okay. Well, I usually do my routines to music. Y’all have somewhere I can set my phone up?” 

“Abso-fuckin’-lutely,” Shitty was already up and ready, having abandoned his board on the ground.”

Eric queued up the song he just won his regional title with and passed his phone over. He skated to a large flat surface in front of the rest of the team and took his starting position. He double-checked his helmet and made sure his lucky socks were up. Eric gave a quick little tap to the peaches near the top then gave Shitty the thumbs up to start. 

The beginning notes to Heaven Help Me played out over the speakers. He dropped his board down and picked up speed. Just as the lyrics rang out Eric flipped his deck onto the edge standing on the side of the wheels. He flipped back out of the primo slide and let the beat of the music overtake him. He knew his routine inside and out and could probably do it blindfolded. 

Eric went into his first spin, only two wheels on the ground, and once he had his balance he pulled his arms in tight to his body and sped up the spin. He popped out of the turn in a front manual, the back of his board close to pulling out from under him. Eric could hear the taps and shouts from the group watching. 

He let himself be lost in the music. The rhythm became his heartbeat and he put everything he had into the last two minutes of the routine.

Several more spins, tricks, and a handstand later he hit the final note and posed. His chest was pounding and he was out of breath. There wasn't a chance to catch it though, as the whole team had run over to tackle him. 

Lardo was the first to get to him and give him a tight squeeze. "Dude, that was so sick!" 

Ransom and Holster had apparently decided that personal space was not their thing and wrapped themselves around Lardo and Eric. 

"GROUP HUG!" Shitty jumped on top of Holster sending the pair to the floor.

Everyone was laughing and Eric finally felt like this whole risk was going to work out. He smiled from ear to ear, and then he noticed Jack still sitting off to the side, a scowl on his face. His own smiled disappeared for just a moment and when it came back moments later, it was just a little weaker than before.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack had to admit that having Bittle around wasn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be. The rest of the team had been thrilled to have him around. They had taken to calling him Bitty, and well, Bittle didn’t seem to mind. The kitchen was the cleanest Jack had ever seen in the time he’d lived there and the new kid loved baking in there, so at least there was good food. He thought Bittle meshed with the team dynamic in the park pretty well too. Although he didn’t appreciate how much time the team had taken out of their own practice to teach him tricks he should have been able to do going into being on the team. 

The run to Faber was filled with thoughts of how the day should go and everything that could go wrong. Jack hoped to get in some good shots of everyone for marketing and merchandise, and maybe some footage for a skate video too. 

The parking lot in front of Faber was busier than he was expecting for a Wednesday afternoon. The massive garage doors to the park were open to let in natural light. The doors were still gated off to make people go through the shop. Shitty sat in a lawn chair, shirtless, of course, to yell at any of the kids that tried to hop the fence. He was in the middle of scolding a group of teens, for what Jack couldn’t hear, but he didn’t want to get roped into it so he opted to go through the shop instead.

A bell rang out when he pushed the door open. The crowd at the center of the counter turned to stare. Jack assumed that none of those kids were old enough to remember when he was skating professionally. He saw Eric at the counter giving out wristbands to them before they went into the park. Eric waved and smiled at Jack. He returned a small nod and kept towards the door. Eric buzzed him into the park.

Jack cruised slowly through small crowds of teens and small kids. Lardo was teaching a group of beginners to rollerblade in the front corner where Shitty was sitting. The parents of the children collected along the wall for supervision. He saw peeks of Ransom working tricks in one of the parks' bowls, and Holster was messing around on the five meter halfpipe. 

When he finally got to the top of the halfpipe he set down his gear bag on an old couch situated towards the back and went to work assembling his camera and adjusting the settings. Holster had popped up to the table.

“You’re getting lucky enough to shoot this gorgeous giant today?” Holster laughed.

“Yeah. I’m doing a bunch today but I figured I should save the best for last.”

Holster threw a hand over his heart and feigned hurt, “Bro, that was harsh.” He paused, then laughed. “I loved it. So what’ll it be bossman?”

“Euh, let’s just start with whatever you’ve been working on for a bit. I’ll start up here then move down to the flat. Sound good?”

“You got it.”

Holster reset himself on his bike and Jack readied his camera for the drop in. He settled himself on one knee so he could adjust his position quickly if he needed to. Jack closed the shutter in bursts. He paused for a moment to make an adjustment for the lighting and continued on. Confident that he had captured the best he was going to get from the table. He stood and held up a hand to signal to Holster he was done up there. 

From the flat, he ran the same routine. He was able to move around a little more and try some more artistic shots as well. Promotional material was always just standard shots mid trick, but Jack’s favorites always messed with the perspective a little. Sports photography with the punk twist that skating really loved. 

They exchanged chirps back and forth as they worked. Holster bailed on a couple of tricks but shook them off and climbed his way back up to the top. He nailed backflips and toboggans and even a 720 spin. They’d been at it for nearly an hour before Holster caved and decided to be done for a while. 

“I think we’re set on pictures of you for a while, H.”

“Not possible, my dude. There will never be enough to capture all this,” Holster gestured at himself. 

Jack laughed, “Fair enough. I’ll catch you later.”

🛹

It looked like Lardo was finished teaching her lessons and was working on some handrail tricks with a board. Her skates were set off to the side, having traded them in for sneakers. 

“Done with the blades for today?” Jack asked, setting his gear bag with her skates. 

“For now. Bitty and I are gonna work on some street stuff today. Get him ready for the Samwell Series.”

“He should be ready though. That’s the point of bringing in new people to the team. Not waste your practice time trying to teach tricks he should already know.”

“Jack. Harsh. And totally not okay.”

They both turned at a small cough behind them. Bitty was standing there with his board in a mall grab, his other hand holding onto his arm. He shifted his feet. 

“Ready to get started Lardo?” Bitty smiled. 

“Absolutely, bro.” Lardo turned to face Jack. “Are you going to keep being an asshole for like, literally no reason, or are you going to take photos like you planned.”

“I,” he started then paused. “I’m going to take some photos.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Jack was able to move around more quickly here than he had been able to at the pipe with Holster. He focused on getting shots of Lardo. She had her tricks down. Bittle, not so much. He was able to get the lift he needed but only connected with the rail half the time. Jack tried not to get frustrated when Lardo would stop to talk Bittle through the next steps of the trick.

They celebrated when Bitty nailed the noseslide with hugs. Jack flipped through the last few photos, the joy on Bitty’s face jumped off the tiny camera display. Even Jack had to admit he caught on quick and was doing a pretty good job. 

After landing a few more tricks and a brief water break, Lardo suggested they try the bowl. “You don’t have to try any tricks, just drop in and ride it out. See how it feels.”

“Now I’m not so sure about that,” Bitty confessed.

“It’s not as bad as you think,” Jack chimed in from his seat on the ground.

“If y’all say so. I guess I can give it a go.”

“We can start here in the shallow end. There’s like no drop at all. Watch.”

Lardo dropped into the shallow section of the bowl and carved around the far end and pushed a few times to get the momentum to get back up into the shallow end. Bitty held his board up in his arms and clapped lightly. 

“Now you try.”

“Here goes nothing,” Bitty fastened his helmet strap and took a deep breath before shifting his weight forward. His board tipped to vertical and he jumped to the side and jogged several steps away, “I can’t do that. Nope, not for me.”

“Bitty, bro, we gotta try again. You can do this, I know you can.”

“I’m sure I could but you know I’m not that interested in trying that again.”

Jack had moved over to the side of the bowl, his long legs swinging down the side. He let out a sigh and shifted his weight. This was pointless. This kid was learning, and quickly, but at the rate he was taking he was never going to make it in pro skating, he shouldn’t be here.

“Okay, that’s fine. We can uh, move back to the rails,” Lardo offered.

“Thank you.”

“You know they won’t keep you here if you can’t skate street. They’ll send you home. There’s plenty of people to fill your place and I bet everyone would save a lot of time because we wouldn’t be having to teach basic tricks,” Jack chimed in.

“Jack. If you can’t offer any useful advice or keep your damn mouth shut, just leave,” Lardo near screamed.

There was a lull in the sounds of the park. A few of the people had stopped to look at what was going on. Jack felt his face turned several shades of red. He hardened his expression but stayed in his place across the bowl. 

“That’s what I thought.”

“No, Lardo, I may not like it and he may be an ass but he’s right. I came here because I wanted to go pro and I couldn’t really do that where I was. Let’s go again.”

Bitty repositioned his board at the lip of the bowl and tried again. And failed again, and again, and again. On the eighth try from the shallow end, Bitty managed to keep both feet on his board and ride it out to the center of the bowl in the deep end. He raised both arms above his head in a cheer. He walked off his board and turned around to see Lardo and Jack clapping for him. 

“Dude!” Lardo shouted. “That was awesome!”

“Thanks,” Bitty grinned. 

“You want to try the deep end? I’ll go first if you want?”

“Um, sure! Might as well keep going.”

Bitty looked over to where Jack was sitting on the lip of the bowl. Jack thought he could see the weight lift off his shoulders. Maybe there was hope for this kid after all. 

They moved over to the other side of the bowl. The walls of the bowl were just over two meters high. It was deep but not as intimidating as the halfpipe. Lardo dropped in with ease and popped back out on the other side. She gave Bitty the thumbs up to give it a try. 

Jack noticed the way Bitty’s shoulders crept up and his back tensed as he put the front of his board over the edge, his weight on the tail end, the only thing keeping it from falling to the bottom of the bowl. He started to lean forward but something about it wasn’t right. The balance shifted quickly then and Bitty tried to step away from it like he did in the shallows but there was no ground for him to connect with. His back hit the ground hard.

Lardo dropped in but abandoned her board once she hit the flat. She jogged over to where Bitty was laying with an arm covering his face. His breath was shaky and sobs could be heard between the taps and clinks of other people skating in the park. 

It took Lardo a few minutes of whispering to get Bitty back on his feet. There was a tear through the elbow on his long sleeve tee and blood soaked into the fabric around it. He picked up his board and walked out of the bowl through the shallow end and kept going until he left the park. 

Jack sighed, standing up away from the edge. He picked up his gear piece by piece and went to put it back into the bag. 

“You didn’t have to be that way today.”

Jack turned around to see Lardo still at the bottom of the bowl, looking up at him.

“He needs to know that he has to bring it every single day. He might be good in his style but we don’t compete in freestyle.” 

“He’s got so much potential and you are suffocating every little spark with your absolute shit attitude. I know you’ve got issues about all of this,” Lardo gestured to the entirety of the park. “And with him being on the team, but bro you have to work through it. If you want to talk about anything I’m here for you but I am not going to just sit by and let you be awful to other people either.” 

She dropped her board down pushing hard to get momentum to get out of the pool. Lardo kept her back to Jack while she put her skates back on. She gathered her things quickly and sped off to the shop entrance. 

Jack stood still for a moment, unsure what to do or how to feel. How he felt didn’t matter, the team did, and like it or not Bitty was on the team. 

🛹

Late that evening, Jack made it back to the Haus after finishing his physical therapy exercises. Everything was quiet, only a faint clinking in the kitchen kept it from total silence. Ransom and Holster were teaching lessons and Shitty was running the shop. 

Jack peeked his head into the kitchen. The table was covered with containers of baked goods, each one labeled for a member of the team. He noticed his name on one too. Shit.

Bitty was at the counter mixing together another batch of whatever he had been baking. The hoodie he was wearing was so oversized it made him seem even smaller than he already was. Lardo sat on the counter on the other side of the sink. She had a sketchbook in her lap working on some new piece. She noticed Jack first and stared at him. She must have still been upset with him for this afternoon. He did go overboard and the kid was trying. 

Jack broke eye contact with her and went up the stairs two at a time. He tried to let his mind wander in the shower but he kept coming back to Bittle. There had to be some way to either get him over the fear and progress quickly enough to compete or get him to go home. Jack wasn’t sure which one was best for the team or what he wanted. 

By the time he made it back down to the kitchen, Lardo had gone up to her room and Bitty was alone in the kitchen, cleaning up from all the baking he had done earlier. Jack intentionally made noise going to get a protein shake out of the fridge. He wasn’t about to be the one to initiate this particular conversation. Bitty turned around, flashing that same smile as always, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes and they looked a little red and puffy. 

“Well hey there,” Bitty started. When Jack didn’t say anything back he continued. “I made some sweets for everyone.” He picked up the container with Jack’s name and passed it over. “I made sure yours had extra protein mixed in since you seem to love those awful shakes so much.”

“Euh. Thanks, Bittle.” 

Jack made his way to the doorway, not really sure how to say what he wanted to or even where to begin. It was his fault Bittle was upset, he did that. He stopped to turn back for just a moment. 

“Meet me at the van tomorrow morning. 4:30. Make sure you’re ready to go to the park.” 

Jack turned and was up the stairs before Bitty could respond but he did hear a quiet and perhaps a little confused, “Um, okay.” come from the kitchen.

🛹

Jack stood outside leaning against the van. The sun hadn’t even started peeking above the horizon yet. A lot of progress had been made in the last several weeks, and even though the beginning was rough, Bitty was ready to try the halfpipe today. Jack sipped on his coffee quietly while he waited for Bitty to join him. 

As always, he was in an oversized hoodie, this one was bright yellow had HOMECOMING written across it in bedazzled letters, and near too short shorts. Half asleep, Bitty shuffled through the dewy grass to get to the van. Jack noticed that today his socks had bees all over them. 

They climbed into the van. Jack passed a hot vanilla latte over to the passenger seat, which Bitty accepted with a barely audible, “Thank you. Good morning.”

“Morning, Bittle. Stay up too late?”

Bitty just groaned in response.

The drive was quiet, Jack enjoying the peace of the morning and Bitty trying to fully wake up. Soon they were pulled into the van’s spot at the shop. Jack opened the door to the shop with his key then locked it back behind them. No one was going to be in to open for several more hours. They each set down their gear bags and started to go through the routine. Stretch, thoroughly but not too much, gear up in at least a helmet for Bitty, though both of them opted for knee pads as well, and warm-up. 

Jack worked on limbering up his knees, going up and over mounds and hills that forced him to pump his legs to keep up speed, tossing in a few ollies and kickflips to get used to the impact. He kept an eye on Bitty who had finished stretching and was putting on his headphones. 

Bitty warmed up starting with some fancy footwork, starting slow then building up speed. He could do walk the dogs perfectly for the entire length of the park if he wanted to. He moved on to the rail next, working his way up to higher drops until he was working in the bowl. He’d learned enough tricks to look like he knew what he was doing and conquered his fear of the drop in there. The real challenge today was going to be the drop in on the halfpipe. 

Thirty minutes later they took a break for water and breakfast. Jack had packed some fruit and Bitty pulled out some muffins he made the night before. They sat quietly and ate. They’d finally gotten used to each other for the most part. Jack was snapping at Bitty less and Bitty seemed to be happier than he had been since he arrived. Mornings were always quiet, neither of them really speaking until they were both warmed up and ready for the day. 

“You ready to get started on the hard stuff?” Jack asked.

“Believe it or not Jack, but it’s all been hard,” Bitty rolled his eyes.

“That’s fair. Ready to try the really hard stuff?” 

“Haha Mr. Zimmermann. I just cannot with you sometimes. But yes, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” 

The pair climbed up the stairs to the top of the halfpipe, each taking a moment to set down their duffle bags on the couch. Bitty did a once over of his pads and Jack noticed he was breathing a little heavier since they made it to the top. 

“You want me to go first?”

“Um yeah, I think that might help.”

Jack nodded and set up to drop in. In an instant wind filled his ears. The feeling of the drop could still take his breath away, and he loved every moment of it. His shirt flared out behind him and soon he was off the ramp on the other side feeling weightless. He didn’t even try to suppress the joy on his face beaming across the halfpipe, Bitty clapping for him on the other side. The best part, to Jack anyway, was that he got to do it again to get back over to Bitty to work on their lesson. 

They walked through each part of Bitty’s first attempt. It was just like the bowl only higher. Bitty had been practicing in the bowl every day for weeks trying to commit the feeling to muscle memory. It had been decided that he should try out a trick at the other end so he would be focused on that rather than the height of the ramp. 

Bitty readied himself at the edge of the pipe and took a deep breath. Jack stood off to the side there if he needed to be coached through but still far enough back that the drop was Bitty’s choice. The trick of choice was a frontside 360. While Jack was most comfortable with the big drops and big air, Bitty seemed most at home spinning at a dizzying pace and hopefully that would give him some comfort or at least part of it to look forward to. 

When Bitty finally dropped in, no coaching needed, Jack’s voice caught in his throat. He wanted to cheer for Bitty finally doing one of the things that seemed to scare him the most, but he couldn’t. He was only halfway through and Jack would be there to cheer once Bitty had landed his trick. Bitty launched off the ramp to a height that Jack didn’t think he was going to reach. He made his 360 lofty and slow giving him enough time to enjoy it but also the chance to really spot his landing.

As soon as he connected board to ramp his face lit up. It was all Jack could do to stay in his spot on the other side until Bitty popped up and off the half pipe. Bitty dropped his board and immediately ran to Jack throwing his arms around him and squeezing tight.

“Oh my goodness! I can’t believe I did it. Holy shit.” Bitty let go and rambled on for over a minute about how he couldn’t believe what he actually did. After a pause to catch his breath he finished, “I want to go again.” 

“That reminds me,” Jack went over to where his bag sat on the couch. He dug through it pushing things around to pull out a skateboard. He tried to hide it behind his back when he turned around to face Bitty. “I figured this would be a good gift for you finally conquering some of the things that had been really hard for you. I did some research and apparently a lot of freestylers really like this style of board instead of a standard.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s so kind!” Bitty took the board turning it over carefully examining all the little differences. “The flat ends are so cool. Perfect for Pogos. And the wheels are offset for slides?”

Jack nodded, “yeah. There’s skid plates too. Do you want to try that one out on the ramp?”

“Yeah, I really do.” He set up for another drop, with a calming breath, same as before. Down he went, this time with a smile on his face. Bitty sped up his rotation just a little, completing two before he connected back on the ramp. He didn’t pop up off when he reached the starting side instead doing a faster, tighter 720 and back down to the other side. He stopped up on the far side table, still grinning wide. 

Jack gave him a thumbs up which Bitty returned just before dropping in again. Something was different this time and Jack wasn’t quite sure why but when Bitty was skating down the transition he lost his footing and separated from his board. He fell, sliding on his knees to the center of the flat then rolled onto his back. 

Jack ran down the stairs to make sure Bitty wasn’t hurt. He made it to the flat as fast as he could Bitty laying there with his arms and legs outstretched. Jack approached with caution remembering how poorly he handled it the last time. 

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt or anything.”

“Are you sure?”

“I just thought I’d figured it out.”

“They can’t all be perfect. Everyone falls.”

“I guess,” Bitty sighed deeply. 

“Let’s call it for today. You can keep working or take a nap before the rest of the crew gets here. I’ve got some paperwork Hall needed me to fill out.”

“Okay. I’m going up to the couch if you need me.”

Bitty sat up to unbuckle his pads and helmet. His hair was stuck to his forehead and he ran his fingers through it trying to tame it into his usual style. Jack waited with him until he had gathered all his things and started up the stairs. 

🛹

Jack busied himself in the office filling out paperwork for insurance and entries and anything Hall really didn’t want to deal with. It was his way of helping out since they let him hang around even though he wasn’t on the team. The park was open and he’d been at it for a few hours, when he heard a scream. It wasn’t like the cheering screams that skaters would give when they finally nailed a trick. It was a visceral scream with no control. Jack was up and out of the office without thinking twice.

Outside the office, he saw a large crowd near the handrails. Everyone had stopped skating and was around someone at the center. Jack walked over to the group trying to figure out what was going or who was here that would cause that kind of reaction from the park. 

As he got closer, Jack realized who it was. Of course he was here. Of course he didn’t tell Jack he was coming. Of course. 

At the middle of the crowd was a taller man with greying hair. He was smiling and signing the kids' decks. When he looked up, he and Jack made eye contact and his face lit up.

"My boy!" He stretched his arms out and waded through the crowd around him. When he finally made it over to Jack he pulled him into a tight hug, kissing the side of his head. “I hadn’t heard from you in so long I thought I’d surprise you and check on the team.”

Jack hugged him back a little lighter, “Euh, it’s good to see you Papa.”

Jack went to pull away but was pulled right back into his father’s side, “Heard you kids had been killing it. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The younger kids that had been in the park for open skate stood off to the sides so they could watch The Haus team with Bad Bob Zimmermann, skateboarding legend and vert innovator. The Haus team took turns turning it into a jam session, giving each other thirty seconds to strut their stuff through the different apparatus of the park. 

Lardo nailed the run she’d been perfecting for a promo video and elicited screams of excitement from some of the youngest girls watching. Bitty showed off some of his favorite freestyle tricks and a few on the hand rails for good measure. Shitty landed the most insane flip trick off the tall nine stair, the impact of it so strong he almost sat on his board when he hit the ground. Holster started with a bunny hop up to the hand rail and bounced there on his back wheel before finishing with a front flip off the rail and back down to the ground. Ransom opted to drop into the bowl and stay there, coming up off the ledges with huge air to nail whatever trick he wanted. 

Bad Bob clapped and cheered at each trick, jumping up and down more excited than most of the kids present. When Ransom popped out of the bowl out of breath from his run Bob jogged over to give him a high five. 

The next thing Jack knew was that his dad was borrowing a board and was going to try some tricks. Great. He didn't really want to be involved so he headed up to the halfpipe couch to hideaway for a little bit. He never quite felt like he lived up to everyone's expectations, particularly his dad's. 

People thought Jack was going to be the next generation of vertical innovators. He thought he wanted to be. He certainly enjoyed skating enough to continue on after the accident but he'd kept out of the spotlight and away from the competition scene for years. 

He laid on the couch, putting his snap snapback over his face. Even from the other side of the park Jack could hear Shitty and Holster joking with Bad Bob.

"Don't hurt yourself old man!" Followed by cheers and board taps when he apparently landed whatever trick it was. It would take weeks for the rest of the team to get over his dad's visit and things to go back to normal. 

Jack was lucky enough to get twenty whole minutes of solitude before he heard someone coming up the stairs. He lifted his hat up just enough to see Bittle walk toward him. 

"I thought I could give it a go for everyone. Today seemed like fate to do it, ya know what with how this morning went.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Bittle set his board up to drop into the halfpipe. Another deep calming breath like he had done all morning and leaned forward. He disappeared until Jack saw him pop up above the edge on the other side. As soon as his board touched the ramp there were screams and cheers from all the people watching from the flat. A distinct “Way to go, son!” stabbed Jack in the gut. He rolled over to face away from where Bittle came up from his run on the table. 

“Jack, did you see that? I did it!” 

Jack didn’t really respond. Just laid there hoping Bittle would walk away. 

“Jack?”

“It was a lucky run,” he grumbled.

“What was that?”

“I said,” Jack sat up. “It was a lucky run.”

“Oh.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Alrighty! If y’all just want to follow me through here,” Eric led the prospective tour group into the shop. “All of us work here regardless of our membership status with the team, although flows do tend to work more than the am and pro skaters.”

There were six kids in the group. Most of them would turn eighteen in the fall and be signed into flow positions like Eric, others were touring for the opportunity in a few years. One of the prospective skaters, Chris, was just as excited to be there as Eric felt when he got the call. Eric didn’t get to tour though, it was at the cost of the prospect and he couldn’t swing the airfare and hotel without the help from his family and they thought the whole pursuit of professional skateboarding was ridiculous. 

“We carry everything from team gear to all the supplies needed to assemble a new deck here. We have open skates four days a week and since most of the folks that come through are minors a lot of the time we have to explain they need a parent to check them in for the first time to fill out all the insurance paperwork. 

“Next we’re going to go through here into the actual park. Y'all can just set your bags here along the wall. Trust me you’ll get the chance to skate here in a bit. We’re just going to walk a lap and then have you fill out your own paperwork and I’ll get those forms from your parents. Hopefully by the time ya get done the rest of the team will be here and we can skate.

“Any questions so far?”

“Uh yeah.”

“Yes, Mr. Nurse?”

“Nursey is fine. How is like, the atmosphere of the housing accommodations?”

“Well, I’d like to say that I’ve made some positive adjustments, but it still very much has a frat house feel to it.”

“Chill.”

Eric led them through the park, highlighting the best spots and sharing more information about the day to day goings on, like the lessons each of them taught and the best times to work on hard tricks. They made a big sweeping lap ending back in front of the office. Eric sat them down with the clipboards that had been prepped for each of the prospects.

Chris was the last one to finish his paperwork, having to call home for the last bit of information needed. Right after he handed his forms over, Shitty barged through the shop doors into the park. 

“BRAHS. Are you ready?” He shouted both hands raised above his head. 

“WOOOOO!” Chris cheered back. 

Everyone took their time getting into their gear and warming up. The team made sure to watch the newbies as they warmed up too, already examining their skills, the prospects overly aware that they were being watched. 

Eric popped in his headphones and went into his own little world, the music drowning out all the sounds from the park. He knew how stressful and overwhelming it could be to audition for a place on the team. He let his thoughts wander and stuck on the incident from a couple of weeks ago when Jack snapped at him on top of the halfpipe. Things had been getting better and Eric had thought he finally gotten through and that he and Jack were getting to be friends. Apparently not, but Eric wasn’t about to give up just yet. 

After everyone had warmed up and was ready to get started, The Haus team started showing off letting the prospects sit aside and watch. Most of them worked in the bowl doing their favorite and signature tricks. Holster’s always surprised people since he would do a backflip out of the bowl rotating a little extra to land backwards going back into the bowl. By the time each member had a chance, the prospects were chomping at the bit for their turn.

Chris took his turn first, too excited to wait any longer. He started in the shallow end of the bowl picking up speed headed towards the deep end. His style looked almost like the old school skaters who started out as surfers. Large carves through the bowl adding in a twist or hand plant. His finish was a frontflip out of the bowl to skate away. 

Nursey went next. He was so fast on his scooter, spinning the base around several times midair and managed skateboarding tricks just as well. He went up the vertical in the deep end, planting one foot on the edge in a boneless before landing a backflip backwards into the bowl. 

Will was the last of the prospects to go. He'd been the quietest of the group and looked to be so deeply focused on the task at hand. He stood on the pedals of his bike, balancing for a moment before pushing off towards the bowl. He did some balance tricks on the ledge and a few twists where he pulled the bike up sideways. The finale of it all was him separating from the bike completely midair for just a second before grabbing it and putting it back underneath him.

🛹

After their showcase, the team and prospects went back to the Haus to hang and eat. Most of them were staying in local hotels and flying out in the morning so they had little to no intentions of heading out early. Will was the only exception; citing work and needing to get his cousin’s truck back. He did stay around the Haus for an hour or so helping Eric out in the kitchen. 

They worked quietly with Eric humming along and dancing to the music playing over his phone. He could only handle the quiet for twenty minutes before he felt the need to make conversation with Will, it was only polite after all.

“So what got you into skating? Or biking, I guess?”

“I mean it started as a way to get to jobs before I could drive. Then learning tricks turned into a thing my cousins and I did for fun. They always said I was too good to be doing it just for fun and I should try to go pro. Didn’t think it could ever happen but here I am.”

“You were just so good today! I can’t imagine how tricky tricks on a bike could be especially with how tall you are.”

“Isn’t Holster bigger than me?”

“He is but also not by much. Y’all are just so much bigger than me that it makes me think the tricks are way harder.”

“I don’t think so,” Will dunked his hands back into the sink, washing the dishes for clean up while Eric put away all the leftovers. 

“How did you feel about today?”

“I think I did well but I’m not sure if I want to take a spot if they offer.”

“Why’s that?” Eric stacked the last of the containers into the fridge then joined Will at the sink to help dry.

“I just don’t think it’s a solid bet. It’s cool to try and I know I could make it but why take that risk with job security? One injury and you could be out for life.”

“I get that. If it doesn’t work out for me here I get to go back to Georgia and find a job there. And there isn’t really anything I’m qualified to do so ya better believe I’m trying my best to make this work.”

🛹

Lardo had commandeered most of Eric’s desk in the couple weeks leading up to the Samwell Skate Series. He noticed she had been becoming increasingly quiet as well. All her focus poured into the paintings she was doing on the bottoms of each member of the team’s decks. Eric had been sworn to secrecy so none of them could bombard her with particular requests. 

He sat on his bed and scrolled through Twitter while Lardo airbrushed the bottom of what he assumed would be Jack’s board considering the Canadian flag motif she had snuck into the design. He played music through his phone speakers while Lardo had on her headphones. The light breeze from the open window moved the curtains but the smell from Shitty being on the roof that afternoon lingered in the air.

After a while, she pulled off her headphones with an exasperated sigh, “Dude I am so burned out on these. I need a break.”

"Well, you have been at it for hours."

“Annie’s?”

“Oh yes, that sounds amazing.”

The pair cruised on their boards down the sidewalk. It was warm, summer weather finally kicking in. Eric was thrilled. It wasn’t the stifling hot that he had in Georgia but it did remind him of home. The silence was more comfortable with Lardo than anyone else too, so they rode for a while the only sounds around them the breeze and their boards on the sidewalk. It never lasted long though, his tolerance for silence. 

“I’ve been letting it sit for as long as I can but what on Earth is up with Jack? It’s like he thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crowand I just don’t understand why he’s been so... ugh just you know how he’s been with me.”

“Yeah. There’s a lot of history there. His story isn’t mine to tell but I will say that it gets tougher when his dad is around. He might seem closed off about it but he’s usually pretty willing to talk if the person listening seems to be genuinely interested in his story.”

“That makes sense though. The stuff about his dad. I thought we were finally getting to the point we could be friends.” 

“You’ll get there. It can just take a little time.”

The shop door chimed gently when they entered. After placing orders they settled into a booth in the back corner. Lardo pulled a marker out and started doodling on one of the napkins. She didn’t really seem to be drawing anything just some random lines and shapes. 

Eric set his phone down on the table and fiddled with the straw wrapper, “So how did you get mixed into all this anyway?” 

“Into what? Skating or The Haus?”

“Both?”

“Skating was because my parents thought that roller derby was too violent and I was less likely to get hurt doing tricks. Jokes on them though, because I’ve had some pretty gnarly slams. The Haus was through the competition circuit. They were at one that I was competing in and I guess a few members saw me and begged Hall to bring me on. I love it. I’m so happy to be skating and teaching for a living.”

“That’s so cool!”

“I know bro. There’s literally nothing I’d rather do,” she grinned. “What about you? Not many freestylers these days.”

“So my MooMaw was a freestyler back in the day. She was pretty famous for it back then too but never went pro. Kept skating when she had my Daddy. He wasn’t interested in it though, more of a football kinda guy. I guess I asked her about some of the pictures from when she was young and she taught me.”

“Yo that is so awesome. The ladies of that time never got the recognition they deserved.”

“So true. And on top of that, the vert style started becoming more popular so freestyle has kinda been considered out of date for a while.”

“Also true, unfortunately.” 

“But I have been seeing a resurgence of it online. Lots of really young skaters picking it up. So maybe we’ll see some big names come along and really get it going again.”

“That would be so cool. You’ll start getting kids requesting lessons once you compete some here soon.” 

“Oof that makes me nervous. But like, also excited.”

Lardo passed Eric the napkin she had been doodling on, now filled with geometric shapes each one colored in different patterns. Eric was used to it. Lardo often doodled on napkins whenever they went out to eat. He took them all and kept them in a little notebook where he wrote down the important things that happened and wanted to remember during his time with The Haus. 

🛹

The end of competition season was rapidly approaching and Eric thought Jack had seemed to be warming back into being friends again. They’d been working together in the skate shop every week. Jack usually took care of putting together new boards and maintenance for the kids that didn’t know how to do it themselves. Eric took on the responsibility of talking to the parents and making sure all the paperwork was filled out correctly. They split the sales duties evenly. 

Jack had just finished putting together a fresh deck for one of the first timers and was putting away the tools and Eric had just buzzed the child and parent back to the actual park so they were alone in the shop.

Eric had noticed that Jack had been quieter than usual, which was something to behold as he was always quiet but he pushed that thought away and busied himself with restocking some of the clothing items they had on the floor. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Jack came up from behind and spoke.

“So uh…” Jack started.

“Holy crow! You just scared the daylights out of me.”

“Sorry. I wanted to --”

“We should tie a bell on you, I swear,” Eric interrupted.

“Bittle.”

“Yes, Jack?”

“I was trying to say something that I’ve been I guess having a hard time admitting.”

“Oh! Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Eric stopped folding the Thrasher hoodies on the table and faced Jack to give him all of his attention. He watched Jack take a deep breath before continuing, it reminded him of the centering breaths he took at the top of the half pipe.

“I don’t really like to talk about stuff like my feelings or my history too much,” Jack started. “But I know I’ve been an asshole to you and I’m sorry for it. I’ve been trying to deal with it but I figured you might have questions or something you wanted to talk about.”

“Oh. Well, thank you for the apology. I do appreciate it. Did Lardo talk to you?”

“What? No. She’s told me off for before but not recently.”

“Oh, okay. Um. actually, I did have some questions but are you sure you want to get into that here? We can go to Annie’s after our shift? Or maybe after a skate?”

“After this is fine. You’ve been getting really good so a break should be fine.”

“Why thank you,” Eric smiled. Compliments from Jack were rare so Eric knew he would want to hold on to this one. The after work meeting was a little intimidating though, and he wasn’t really sure what to make of it. Hopefully it was a casual, light hearted, let’s be friends meeting.

The rest of their shift passed quickly and quietly. It was mostly kids that had been to the park before, which meant a quick sign in then buzzing them through to the park. The ride to Annie’s was the same, quick and quiet. The only sounds around them the thunk of their wheels hitting the lines on the sidewalk. 

Eric placed his usual order at an alarming speed and when it was Jack’s turn he stared at the board for a while before settling on a plain black coffee. Once drinks were ready they made their way to a table tucked in the back of the shop far from the rest of the hustle and bustle. 

They sat down and Jack adjusted his beanie in what appeared to Eric to be a nervous habit. Or maybe it just slid off his head a lot, who was he to assume? Jack then cleared his throat before starting.

“Okay. Hit me.”

“Are you sure you wanna do this?”

“Positive.”

“What if I accidentally go too far?”

“I doubt it, but I’ll let you know.”

“Alrighty then,” Erice took a deep breath. “What was your whole deal with me at the beginning?”

“Uhh. Yeah, sorry about that. Again. So,” Jack settled himself. “I think it’s a couple things. Partly that I don’t really like when things change too much. And the other part is me and Papa.”

“I thought I maybe noticed something going on there as well.”

“Yeah. Do you know who he is? Well, obviously you do, you met him. But do you know who he is?”

“I’d never heard of him until Holster told me. He looked at me like I said I hadn’t heard of Beyoncé.”

“Beyoncé?”

“Jack Zimmermann! Do Not. That’s a whole other can of worms we can get in to later. Back to your dad.”

“Okay,” Jack laughed. “My dad’s been skateboarding since the 70’s. And to some people he’s like the… I don’t know. Really Famous. He’s been on the cover of Thrasher more times than I can remember.”

“Oh my.”

“And growing up,” Jack continued. “There was a lot of talk about my future and how it would or wouldn't compare to his career. I don’t know if you know this or not but I was pro for a while.”

Eric shook his head and let Jack continue.

“I was injured really badly during a competition and stopped skating for a long time after. I didn’t get back on a board until last year and even now there’s bad days where I can’t skate.”

“Oh no, Jack I’m so sorry.”

“It happened and I’m working to get through it, but thanks, I appreciate it.”

They sat at their table in the back of the shop and talked for hours. Eric listened while Jack talked about his injury and the recovery from that and Jack listened to Eric talk about home and how he was bullied for being different. The conversation moved smoothly from one thing to the next until they were talking about Eric’s Beyonce obsession and it was four hours later, drinks long gone. 

Eric glanced down at his phone for the first time since they sat down and nearly gasped. There were over one hundred messages in the Haus group chat and he had a few from his mama. The display read out the time.

“Oh my goodness! When did it get so late?”

Jack shrugged. 

“We better head back before they send a search party!” Eric laughed.

They cleared the table and walked back to the Haus carrying their boards picking right back up where the conversation left off. It was nice. 

When the pair walked in the Haus was loud and filled with laughter. Everyone had started drinking and was going through some kind of homemade obstacle course that involved spinning in circles, climbing over the couch, and under the kitchen table before going ending in a one on one Mario Kart battle. 

Eric couldn’t help but smile. He finally felt completely at home. 

🛹

A few hours before the final set of runs, The Haus crew was hanging out in one of the staging areas watching replays from earlier runs. The commentators were praising the skill of the Aces team. 

“Can you believe how insane the runs from Kent Parson and the Aces are?”

“It’s completely wild. They’re doing tricks I’ve never seen before. And Parson nailing that 720 gazelle flip before going into the stair sets. The air he got was insane. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“They’re really making a run for the title this time.”

“They are. But they aren’t the only team in contention. The Falconers and Riveters are right behind them in 2nd and 3rd places.”

“We can’t forget to mention the 4th place The Haus team either. We didn’t really know what to expect from them going into this series but they have made their presence known.”

“Although how could they ever go unknown with the team being owned by the great Bad Bob Zimmermann?”

“And the appearance of Jack Zimmermann. A once elite skater that has since retired from the sport completely.”

“I know part of it was the injury from his last pro outing but how much of it could be the shadow of his father.”

“Some of it has to be. Now I think, --” 

The TV clicked off. Holster stood still point the remote at the now dark screen. All eyes turned towards Jack who now sat silently, face completely blank. 

“What do those assholes know?” Shitty said loudly tossing a carrot in the direction of the screen.

Jack pushed away from the table he was sitting at and left the staging area without saying a word.

🛹

The team tried to shake the uneasy feeling that had settled over all of them after Jack left. It worked for some but not for Eric. He just kept thinking of the conversations they had and how Jack had been working to move past all the issues he had surrounding his dad.

It was all Eric could think of leading up to his final run. He fell a lot during the warmup but had been pretty good most of the day. He tried to shake it off as nerves for his run but he felt as confident as he could be with it. Jack had been working with him one-on-one a lot recently.

Eric had threaded his earbuds through his clothes so he wouldn’t get caught up in them. Warmups went by much faster than he thought and before he knew it that were sounding the horn for him to drop in. 

Lemonade filled the air around him and he tried to forget everything else. The park wasn’t even close to how Faber was set up. He started in the middle of the park with a few of his favorite flat tricks before escalating to rail grinds and building up momentum to launch off the vert and spin high and tight, landing backwards down the ramp. He tucked down to keep his speed going up for another vertical trick. 

Something wasn’t quite right and when he lifted above the table he separated from his board. He rotated his arms around trying to maintain his balance. His foot caught the edge of the coping but he couldn’t get his weight in the right place and continued to fall. A sharp pain jolted up his body. He gasped. The rest of him finally made contact with the table and he felt another flare of pain in his chest. It was overwhelming. Blinding. 

In an instant he felt someone pulling at his arms. Hauling him up off the coping. Then there were voices asking him questions. He really didn’t want to answer. He couldn’t focus on anything but the pain in his leg and his chest. Eric felt a squeeze of his hand. It was different than the paramedics who were moving him to a stretcher. He opened one eye long enough to see a very worried looking Jack Zimmermann as they moved him out from the park. 

🛹

They had taken Eric to the hospital for x-rays and to make sure his injuries weren’t too severe. He stayed for a few hours as a precaution and went home with a couple broken ribs and a broken leg. He wouldn’t be able to skate for several weeks or even months. 

Eric sat in bed and moped for nearly a week before Lardo insisted they go out for dinner. 

“I can’t even walk!” he protested.

“Yes you can! And even if that were true, you know that Rans and Holster would carry you in a heartbeat.”

He crossed his arms and made a face. 

“Hey. There is only so much Legally Blonde on repeat I can tolerate before I am allowed to murder you. It’s been six days.”

“Okay. fine.”

“Success!! You get dressed. I’ll tell the team.”

“The team? Is everyone going?”

“Well, they’ll all want food so probably.”

Eric sighed heavily, scooting towards the edge of his bed. He reached for his crutches and maneuvered to stand. A loud whoop was heard from downstairs which meant the rest of the team was definitely coming. Maybe he should take them up on the carry him around deal. 

Once everyone was settled at the restaurant, and really it was everyone, even Hall made an appearance, Jack stood up. Jack, who hadn’t left his side from the moment they got into the ambulance until they got home, tapped at his water glass. 

“Euh,” he cleared his throat. “Thanks for coming. I know this season didn’t end how we wanted it in competition, or with injuries.” He paused to look over at Eric. “But I feel like we, well you, grew as a team and I’m proud to have witnessed it.”

Shitty let out a whoop so loud the host on the other end of the restaurant jumped. Lardo smacked at his arm. 

Hall got up and walked to the head of the table where Jack was still standing. 

“Continuing where Jack left off. You all had a great season. I can’t wait to see what you do in the coming years.” 

The table continued banging cups on the table and cheering. Eric smiled. He felt like he was home, but some small part of him nagged that maybe he didn't belong and his fall was part of that. Maybe they wouldn't renew his contract. Maybe they would send him back to Georgia. 

Eric was pulled out of his spiral at the sound of his name. The team was still loud but everyone was looking at him. He focused on Hall and Jack at the end of the table to see them smiling.

"Congrats Bits!" Lardo patted his back. 

"What?"

"Bro they're going to sign you as amateur!"

"Wait, what?" He paused trying to make sense of it. They wanted him? And even more they wanted him enough to start to pay him? Eric couldn't believe it. 

Hall gestured for the team to quiet down and continued. Jack bent down and pulled a board out of the bag he brought to dinner. The table went silent. They all knew this meant someone was being signed pro. The very first person, to be actually signed pro. The Haus was a small team. Everyone was on amateur contracts until it felt like things were coming together. 

They flipped over the board revealing the custom deck that people would be able to purchase in the skate shop. It was a vibrant orange with several graffiti style 💩 emojis covering the board. Over the background in big bubbly letters wrote out “KNIGHT.” 

The table went wild.

“Congratulations, Shitty! We’re proud to have you as our first pro skater. Hopefully several more of you join un in that over the next couple seasons.” 

Shitty stood and gave a speech. Eric tried to listen, really he did, but just kept being brought back to the team signing him. It was all so overwhelming. He couldn’t wait to be out of his casts and cleared to skate again. The next season was going to be even better.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! I hope it wasn't too niche. I'll be going back and adding links to videos for some of the tricks too!!! I've never skateboarded but love seeing it and learning about the culture that surrounds it. 
> 
> And even bigger thank yous to my beta Ari, and the what feels like dozens of people that let me rant to them about this AU in it's pre-planning stages. 
> 
> I was honored to have 2 incredible artists collaborate with me for the OMGCP AU Bang and will link/embed their art here as soon as I am able.
> 
> Props to Raven and Mars for helping me come up with the title both fitting in the pun and how this whole AU evolved.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at tangotangredi


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